AJ, Double Trouble
by Joalle
Summary: Her family is gone. Has been for 5 years. Probably dead.She had little memory of her old life.She didnt know her full name. She was simply AJ.When she learns that there might be hope, she would stop at nothing.But how is the Gemini Project involved?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first fanfic story and I hope you like it. Also, the reason I put this up fanfic is because in a few chapters, it will involve Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader Season 1 kids. But as there was no topic for it, I just put it under Spy Kids. **

Five year old AJ and her twin sister Janet tossed the brightly coloured ball to each other, giggling with delight as the wind tossed their auburn hair across their faces. AJ's real name was Anna Jane but everyone called her AJ. Janet was actually Janet Amanda but she was nicknamed Janet. Their parents, Jason and Jennifer Jones sat on a bench, and watched them play in delight. There sky was completely blue and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Their young twin daughters looked so cute in their pretty pink little dresses.

* * *

_How could they have known that such a lovely day could be their last together?_

A man dressed in a crisp suit with jet-black hair neatly combed was finalizing details for the person he had hired. The man in black. He sneaked a peek at the young couple. It was a pity that he had to throw the life of such a young family. But Jason and Jennifer had thrown their lives away first.

_He was merely taking out the trash._

The laughter danced around the park as the girls decided to run around the park. Janet broke off from the run, her throat dry with thirst. She ran to her parents for a drink. AJ spotted a butterfly and chased it around the park

_All would be lost in mere seconds._

The man in black swiftly walked across the park taking long strides. Even if anyone had seen him, they would never be able to identify him. Even the people who hired him didn't know his real name. He was simply known as the man in black. A highly-trained assassin. That was what he did for a living.

Jennifer and Jason Jones were handing little Janet a bottle of water. The man in black wanted to make things quick. Get rid of the family. No murder. Too public. Do it now. That was his orders.

He didn't know that there were two kids. Twins.

There was a strong gust of wind, which was fairly unusual as it was summer. Normally there was only weak wind. It was as if nature was trying to warn them something was wrong. The man in black acted quickly.

_If she had looked back a moment earlier, perhaps this wouldn't have happened._

AJ looked back in alarm. Why the sudden gust of wind. She looked at the bench hoping for an explanation for this.

Her parents were gone. Janet was gone. Their packs were gone.

There was only a piece of paper left. A note.

Fighting back tears, AJ skipped over to the bench to read the paper.

Jennifer, Jason and their daughter Janet

Are with us

Don't bother looking for them

It's already too late

* * *

Ultimate depression. AJ held the crumpled note in her clenched fists. That note had been hard-wired into her brain, even now, five years after it happened. She couldn't even remember her real name. Amelia Jane or something like that. What sort of life is it if you can't even remember your own name? She had gone from orphanage to foster home to orphanage and the cycle repeated itself continuously. Until she ran away a few months ago.

AJ stood next to the Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. There was the usual hustle and bustle around. Honks beeped. The traffic was at a crawl. Fortunately, she was only ten. She did not want to get her driving license if it meant getting stuck in several hours of traffic.

The note has haunted her from the very day she read it. Five years ago, when she was five.

It started to rain. AJ groaned. When she was with her ex-foster parents, they had forced her to go to school. A horrible private school where even though it didn't seem like it, no one seemed to have any fun.

It was also the school she and Janet had attended five years ago.

It didn't seem to have the same life it had five years ago. Anyway, when she was there, she had once learned in social studies that every year, it rained an average of over 2500 mm a year. That was a lot.

She covered herself with the hood of her sports jacket before running to her home. When Jamie had run away, you couldn't expect her to be homeless. Jamie had been through so much since 'the incident' so finding a place to stay was nothing. It was several of the remains of a condominium when there was a landslide several years after she was born. That was where she lived.

The only reason she had been able to not die of thirst or starvation was because every week, somehow a parcel of 'ringgits' -the Malaysian currency- would mysteriously appear for her. She wasn't hallucinating or going mental or anything of the sort. Somebody _did _care about her.

She wasn't grateful though.

If that someone really did care about her why didn't they just adopt her themselves? It would save the trouble of mailing. Probably some psycho who decided to send her money at her ruined 'home' every Saturday. The person probably was just sending it for the people who died here and didn't actually know someone was actually living there.

_Today was Saturday._

Instead of the only the usual parcel of cash, there was a note too. It probably said something like 'I know you're there, my money is for the dead only. GET LOST!!'

Instead on it was written '1-10/7-15/20-15/20-8-5/ 16-9-3-11-12-5/19-5-3-20-9-15-14/9-14/13-9-4/22-1-12-12-5-25/13-5-7-1-13-1-12-12'

AJ frowned at the paper. The sort of numbers looked familiar to her. Where had she seen them…?

The mist cleared and she realized why it looked familiar.

_Their mum and dad used to play Spy with them, involving things like codes._

She remembered the code. Alphanumber it was called. You just had to think it as if A=1, B=2, Z=26 etc.

AJ sat down and took the paper, and began decoding it.

* * *

AJ was in the supermarket in Mid Valley Mega mall, a popular mall in Malaysia. She had been in the Carefour supermarket at the pickle section. Around her was the thing she hated to eat, even more that vegetables. Pickles.

If the reason for the code was in one of those jars, no way was she going to eat those pickles.

Nobody came there. She didn't blame them, who would want to be where such a horrible thing was? For the past twenty minutes she had been waiting there. Finally she gave up, and was about to go home when a piece of paper caught her eye.

Meet me when all doom rains

At the location of Valkyrie

Gap Shop possibly built possibly not at there

It didn't make sense. Did it?

Something was nagging her at the back of her head. AJ didn't know what. Ignoring it, she kept the paper with her and went back home.

* * *

_There were two girls. A mirror image of each other. The same auburn curls tumbled down, framing their face. One was pale, her sparkling emerald green eyes filled vengeance with cruel smile. The other was tan, her face filled with determination yet her eyes were weary and lacked the sparkle that the other had. She had the sort of weariness like that person had been through too much. There were freckles on both girls. _

_AJ watched them. A spotlight shined on the pair. Other than them, everything was dark. _

_With a shock, AJ realized that the tan girl was herself. And the pale one was Janet, only a cruel version of her._

_Janet took out a knife that was in her dress. AJ knew that she had several more hidden. She did not however anticipate what happened next._

_Janet lunged, the knife in her hand aimed at AJ's heart. AJ screamed. An instant before the knife stabbed, Janet crumbled into dust. So did the surroundings around them._

_The surroundings suddenly changed. There was a boy in front of her, with straight dark hair and freckles. He also had a face that seemed familiar. He was on the ground, blood staining his t-shirt. The boy groaned in pain and struggled to say something. There was a girl with auburn hair and freckles standing behind him. AJ couldn't see her features. She had a knife in her hand. _

_Was that AJ?_

_The girl stood there, ready to kill. She started to bring her knife lower and lower._

_AJ was now at a lake. The mist seemed to swallow everything. There were two ghostly figures walking towards her, somehow walking through the lake itself. They were barely making any progress. AJ blinked._

_Somehow the figures were suddenly in front of her. She could recognize her parents, Jennifer and Jason Jones. The life seemed to have been sucked out of them. They smiled and reached out to her. Jennifer opened her mouth._

"_A variation of null-" _

_She never completed her sentence._

_A knife shot past, taking the ghostly scene-and AJ's parents-away. AJ found herself falling to her inevitable death. Down and down in to the darkness._

* * *

AJ woke up, sweat running down the side of her face. She pinched herself on the arm. A red welt appeared. It was just a nightmare.

But the nightmare wasn't a normal one. It had told her something. What her mother had said, it was the key to the note from the supermarket.

"_A variation of null code"_

That was what she had meant to say. AJ started decoding the note.


	2. Chapter 2

_Meet me at the Gap Shop_

That was what was written on the note, once decoded. AJ was at the Gap Shop at Mid Valley, assuming that since the note was found in the supermarket there then it'll have to be at the same one. Problem was the note hadn't written any specific time, so she might have been too late. Or too early. You never know.

While waiting for whoever it was she was waiting for, AJ looked around the shop. There were loads of things that she wished she could buy, such as the brown capri pants and that red top. But there was no point in buying some expensive clothes if you died of starvation and thirst now, is there?

AJ wasn't really the sort of girl who loved shopping though. The only reason she liked that capri and red top was because she was comparing it to her tattered jeans, her one-sleeved football jersey, (no it wasn't style, the other sleeve had been ripped off) the knee length black and white striped socks and the black cap on her head with BREAKING POINT sewed on with on it with silver thread. You don't need to see AJ to tell her clothes aren't exactly fashionable. But it wasn't her sense of fashion, she had limited money and that was all that was selling that could actually fit her in a local garage sale.

Ten minutes passed. Twenty passed. People come and go. It was altogether possible that the person could have already arrived but didn't notice her.

At exactly 12.12 in the afternoon, a teenage boy entered the store. He had bruises on his arms and there was a long scar running across his deeply tanned face. His hair which was the colour of ebony was spiked up with gel and his eyes were impossible to see-it was covered with a pair of sunglasses. He was holding a Reebok plastic bag.

He seemed to be just like any other customer. He looked like one. He acted like one. The only thing that he did that normal customers wouldn't do was talked to a pathetic looking girl like AJ. The minute he spotted her, his face lighted up with pleasure but it was soon replaced by distaste.

"You the girl who I'll lose my job if you ain't alive?" he asked rudely in broken English

"Maybe you should have checked the other side to see if she's dead before looking for her here," AJ replied. Maybe that would teach the guy some manners.

"I ain't got time for games little girl," he growled.

"And I don't have time to give you English lessons,"

"Look here missy, if you are who I think you are then you should be sitting around moping instead of being rude to me. You ever heard of _respecting your elders?"_

"You ever heard of _being nice to younger people_?"

"Indeed I haven't. Now look here. I ain't got no time to spare. I wanna just collect the cash I'll get after passing this to you," he stops to shake the Reebok plastic bag. "And get outta here,"

"I'm sure I can get sneakers elsewhere, besides I'm not supposed to accept things from strangers,"

"Me no stranger girl,"

"I don't even know your name or your age,"

"Aiman. Me 16. Now, me no stranger,"

"Well then Aiman, I suppose you better pass me that pair of sneakers and then we can both get out of here,"

Aiman passed the plastic bag to AJ. It was slightly heavy. AJ had a feeling it wasn't sneakers in there.

"I also suppose give you message,"

"Well I suppose you better say it quickly so that I can start trying to decipher your horrid English to something more understandable earlier,"

"Help in papers. Paper will say what need to know-,"

"Now Aiman, we aren't in Wonderland. Papers don't talk,"

Aiman glared at AJ. She smirked at him. This was amusing.

"Paper is what you need. Also trust no-"

There was a loud bang. Screams everywhere. Everyone was running. AJ wasn't sure why.

_What was going on?_

Confused, AJ looked down on the floor. She let out a soft gasp.

Below her, was Aiman, with a bloody hole where his heart was. His eyes were wide open with horror, as if he had seen himself die. Blood was pouring on the floor. Some of it had flowed to where she was standing. Her black and white socks were stained with blood. She shuddered.

"Are you all right Miss?" she heard someone ask behind. AJ turned around. There was a policeman standing there.

"Y-y-yes," she stammered.

"Was that your brother?"

"No,"

"Do you know him?"

AJ kept silent. In her mind, dozens of thoughts were running. If she said yes, the policeman would continue questioning her.

"No, he was just beside me. May I go to the toilet?"

"Sure. Be sure to come back,"

Hah. What sort of line is that? Be sure to come back? AJ laughed in her head. If she was a criminal, that would be definitely the last thing she'd do.

AJ frowned, her forehead creased with wrinkles.

Coming back was the last thing she was doing now. But she was no criminal. Was she? Who knows?

AJ made her way out of the mall. It was obvious what Aiman had meant to say.

_Trust no one._

Thinking of Aiman hurt. True, she hated him with all of her heart. And he was a stuck-up idiot. But he was innocent, in a twisted sort of way. A sixteen year old that would never see seventeen.

_A ten year old who would never see eleven._

AJ tried to compare which was better. She wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure how she had gotten caught up in this mess. She felt like a fly, trapped by the silvery strings of a spider web, a spider slowly crawling up to her, its free dinner. Somehow, AJ knew that the real spider hadn't even shown up yet.

She sat down against a tree and took out the contents of the plastic bag. There were a lot of papers and there was a thick book-Cat Royal: The Diamond of Drury Lane-in it. No wonder it was so heavy. She ignored the book-even though she loved reading she decided that the papers were more important. One paper was marked with a gigantic 1. She picked that paper up.

GAOKEHTNAET

OGTDS2OTUGA G

TKHKFEOFHSO5

AJ groaned. She had never seen this sort of code, never. If it was what she thought it was, then it was a word puzzle, maybe even an anagram. How was she supposed to do that? It was impossible to her.

AJ's eyes darted around the paper, desperately searching for something that might help her. Wait, what was that? A clue?

Right at the bottom, in tiny writing was something written, along with an apple icon that looked strangely familiar to her. Where had she seen it before?

AJ squinted her eyes, and tried to make out what the clue was.

_Ask MASK J _

Not a very helpful clue obviously. Though there was something about those letters and that icon. How they seemed to make sense yet she didn't understand. She knew it…yet she didn't.

AJ's eyes bore at the puzzle. After awhile, she looked away, in fear that all that staring would burn holes in the paper. But she had gotten what she needed to know. An idea slowly formed in her mind, a plan in making.

While waiting for the plan to develop, AJ began to read the book in the bag…only to find that there was a secret opening at the cover that revealed a large wad of cash. And that every other chapter was replaced by something else. Something that was definitely not a story.


	3. Chapter 3

AJ scavenged bookshops and other shops for maps of Los Angeles, California. It was hard to find a map that didn't point tourist sights excessively but she didn't mind. After all, she was going to have to go to Hollywood. Maps did have to point where that is.

AJ took a taxi to the airport. Normally, AJ would never ride on a taxi. Taxis were for people who didn't want to waste their petrol and instead using others. A few days ago, the at the ticket counter, there had been quite a commotion about a ten year old girl buying one child airplane ticket _by herself_for her to fly to Los Angeles, at the other side of the world _by herself._Fortunately, she managed to think of a lie that wouldn't make officials think she was running away that no one would think to much of. A rich tomboy traveling to Los Angeles to see her granny, who didn't live there and that she didn't know the real name of her granny, and then later they would fly to a surprise holiday destination for the school holidays. There was no way for them to check about her granny. It was perfect. She wore her favourite leggings under her football jersey instead of the jeans and tied her hair in two scruffy ponytails, one with a red rubber band, to support Manchester United and the other in a blue one, to support Liverpool. AJ walked with a kind of flair as if to say she didn't care what other people think about her.

AJ stopped by the women's toilet before the flight. She took of her bright coloured bands from her hair and replaced them with her BREAKING POINT black cap. The cap cast shadows on her face, not making it easy for anyone to identify her. In her tiny backpack, which was all her luggage, she had several more caps, a red Manchester United one, one blue one with 911 ON THE DOUBLE sewed on it, a bright green one with IF I WERE YOU I'D COMMIT SUICIDE and several more caps with odd words engraved on them, the maps, two sets of spare ragged clothes and the Cat Royal book from Aiman's Nike bag. As AJ placed the cap on her head, a lady with hair that was too black to be true, eyes just as black that was dressed in black from head to toe caught her eye. Hat, blouse, skirt, tights, you name it, it was black. The lady was obviously trying to not be noticed but she knew it was hopeless. Whom she was spying on, AJ could not be sure. As if the lady realized that she was noticed, she walked up to AJ and washed her hands. Now that she was up close, AJ could see that she was wearing black eye shadow and mascara.

"Hello dear, where's your parents?" the lady asked sweetly. AJ could not help being suspicious. I mean, what sort of lady says hi to a ten year old tomboy.

"Outside…," she lied. "Where are you going?"

"Los Angeles like you," the lady replied. How did she know that AJ was going to be on the Los Angeles flight? AJ decided that she was someone to watch out for.

"Who's funeral are you going to? Your father's?" AJ asked cheekily.

"What ever gave you that idea?"

AJ gestured to her clothes. While the lady was thinking about what she meant, AJ chose that moment to run out of the toilet.

AJ was easily the first in line to board the plane. Out of suspicion, she sneaked a look at the passengers behind her. Sure enough, the lady in black was there. AJ gulped and as it was a special Air Asia flight to America, which was not in Asia, she got to select her own seat. She took a seat at the back of the plane, near the exit. The lady in black wasn't sure where AJ had gone and had taken a seat near the other exit.

There was the usual safety regulations announcement, said in English, Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, Hindi and Arabic. AJ took out the Cat Royal book from her bag and read it even though she had at least read it ten times since she had gotten it. The plane departed and it soared above the fluffy white clouds, to Los Angeles.

* * *

Eight year old Shazril was perhaps the one who mourned the most about his brother's death. Even though he didn't seem like it, Aiman was one of the most caring and responsible brothers ever. The way he constantly pressured him to bring his schoolbooks was one of his self-appointed duties. Sure, it was annoying, but at least Shazril wasn't scolded for not bringing his books to school. Just being rude, not telling his parents issues, disobeying rules, the list went on and on.

Why would anyone want to shoot Aiman down? That was what that had been puzzling Shazril. He was just being Aiman, shopping at Gap.

Of course, Shazril didn't know about his brother's spy life. No one in his family did. To them, he was just living his teen life to the fullest, coming back home late with no apparent reason, declining offers to follow the family out for a movie. For all they knew, he could have been robbing a bank.

Today was the day of Aiman's funeral. Everyone was dressed in black even though it isn't Muslim standards. Someone probably has watched to many movies. With the standard Malaysian dark hair, they were almost completely black. Some airhead had even painted some flowers black and spilled black paint on the grass. The place had become Blackville. Shazril felt that the only thing that would make this place even more blacker was to set King Kong on the loose and perhaps get it to crush some people and then paint the victims black. He was positive that everyone had been reincarnated as zombies. To tell you the truth, Shazril wasn't even sure whether he needed King Kong as an excuse to paint the people. The zombie dudes probably wouldn't even mind.

If Aiman was allowed to choose what his funeral would be like, it probably would have been at a theme park. And instead of mourning, people would be dancing. Hip hop music would blare at full volume making several people deaf. He might perhaps somehow find a way to hang a disco ball on a roller coaster. That would have been his ideal funeral.

Before all the mourning boring funeral business began, Shazril broke off from the zombie reincarnations to go to the coffin. Obviously, it was black too. Unable to suppress the urge, he opened the coffin, wanting to see Aiman one last time before he was buried.

There was no body.


	4. Chapter 4

Adrenaline was pumping through her blood. Adam swerved around to avoid a car. The car skidded across the road and crashed into a lamppost. The driver got out of the car and swore horribly at them, shaking his balled fist in the air. That was a good sign. It meant he wasn't dead. AJ looked out of the window. The black Volvo was still hot on their tails.

"Faster! We have to lose them!" she screamed.

Adam stepped on the accelerator. The engine roared and sped up the road. She wasn't sure if all taxis drove like Adam in America. If that was so, if you wanted to lose someone, taxis sure were useful.

The taxi drove straight towards a brick wall. What was Adam doing? Was he insane? AJ closed her eyes and braced herself for impact.

It never came.

AJ opened one eye. Adam was chortling at his supreme smartitude. AJ realized he made a last minute sharp turn to the right. Even she had to be impressed at his smartness that he had bragged about back at the airport.

AJ had left the plane, unsure of where the lady in black was. She was about to hail a cab when Adam the taxi driver came up to her, wondering where her parents was. Unable to help herself to not talk to such a bubbly and charismatic person, she stopped to talk. Otherwise called, listening to hi brag about his smartness and driving skills while making sarcastic comments in between. Half an hour passed when AJ saw the lady in black. Seeing her urgency, Adam ushered her to his taxi to help her get away.

There was a loud bang as the black Volvo collided into the brick wall. Adam quickly sped off in his car, still laughing with glee. AJ doubted with his driving, he hadn't knocked someone down before.

Finally, they arrived at Hollywood. AJ handed Adam cash, slightly more than it would have cost for normal taxi rides but then again, in normal taxi rides, you aren't on the run. To her surprise, Adam shook his head.

"You're my friend. Friends don't pay friends for getting their butts out of trouble, besides I got to show you how smart I really am,"

AJ tried not to smile.

"Sure Adam, you got to show me how smart you are,"

Adam waved placed a business card in her hand.

"If you ever need a ride in Los Angeles, you know my number,"

"Bye Adam…thanks," AJ called.

Adam waved his hand and reversed his car then drove off. Not surprisingly, as he was reversing, he collided into a tree. AJ burst out giggling.

AJ fought her way through the large crowd of people swarming the Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader set. The paper said Ask MASK J as a clue. Ask Marki, Alana, Spencer, Kyle and Jacob, the kids in the show. Problem was, ask them what?

AJ gasped. There they were, sitting there so casually, chatting, as if they weren't going to be in a show shown worldwide. Immediately, she ran forward to ask them. Suddenly, two tall men built like tanks with shaved heads stopped her. AJ groaned.

"What are you doing her Miss?" one of them asked.

"I need to see them" she stammered.

"I'm afraid you need a pass or special recognition by one of the kids for us to let you in,"

By then, the kids had noticed what was going on. Spencer was busy scribbling something on a paper. Marki and Alana were staring at her, chatting nervously to each other. Kyle and Jacob were looking at what Spencer was doing, and perhaps telling him to hurry up.

Finally Spencer held up the paper. AJ gasped. When she was reading the Cat Royal book, there was something about the Secret Identification Code of Jalexis. Whatever this Jalexis was. Anyway, the code was to draw the so called Jalexis symbol, a tiger holding a sword with snakes twisting around it. AJ desperately tried to remember what the replying code was. Oh wait, all she had to do was draw the Jalexis symbol and right her initials or in her case, name, one letter on each side.

"May I have a piece of paper and a pen sir?" she asked as innocently as possible, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.

"Sure," he passed her a paper and pencil.

AJ quickly drew the replying code and held it up. Spencer nodded and the kids walked up to the guards.

"Joseph, would you please let my cousin through?" Spencer asked.

"Your cousin?" the guard that was named Joseph asked in confusion.

"Yes, my cousin AJ. She's visiting from…England,"

"But she doesn't look a thing like you!" the other guard exclaimed.

"Ahh…she follows her father's side, her mother is our blood relative,"

Joseph and his partner just stared in confusion.

"Well aren't you going to let my cousin through,"

"Err…of course,"

AJ was immediately let through. The guards left them, embarrassed, to stop some crazy fan from picking the trash out of the dustbin as some of the rubbish thrown in there had been previously touched by the kids once.

"So you are AJ," Spencer said skeptically.

AJ felt her anger boil. "I don't need to be a boy to kick your head if you deserved it,"

Spencer laughed."Headquarters were right about you, you do have a sarcastic mouth,"

"I'd rather have a sarcastic mouth then to be your _cousin_," she said through clenched teeth.

"Tch, tch, tch, temper temper cousin," Spencer grinned and grabbed her hand to the dressing rooms where they could talk more freely.

As they were running through the hallway, AJ noticed that her _cousin_ was wearing make up.


End file.
